Online Workshop: Understanding Climate Change as a Biblical Mandate

Led by:  Dr. Stephen Jurovics

Workshop Description: This 3-part online series will draw on the instructor’s book, Hospitable Planet: Faith, Action, and Climate Change (Moorehouse Publishing, an imprint of Church Publishing), and will begin by reviewing several of the environmental teachings in the Hebrew Bible, relating them to the New Testament teachings when possible, and demonstrating that climate change and the broader topic of creation care are biblical issues as well as scientific ones. This workshop will also discuss measures urgently needed to mitigate climate change and to prevent irreversible changes to this planet. In addition, the course will discuss the why and how pastors should address this topic within congregations.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23  | 11 A.M. EDT

Session 1

This session will include an overview of the rationale for the course, a discussion of the prevailing interpretation of Genesis 1:28, an examination of the implications of the Noah episode, and a discussion of the appropriate treatment of animals as described in Genesis through Deuteronomy.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30  | 11 A.M. EDT

Session 2

This session will include discussion of biblical teachings related to recycling, our use of the land for crop production, and biblical and post-biblical teachings related to air pollution. This session will also discuss the transition from fossil fuels to non-fossile fuels as a societal transformation.

To prepare for the final session and group discussion, participants will be invited to review the Lectionary and identify weeks in which a discussion of climate change as a biblical issue could readily be included.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7  | 11 A.M. EDT

Session 3

This session will examine what a faith community can do to mitigate climate change, focus on pastor and educator leadership possibilities, and measures that a church and congregants may undertake to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to draw carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Leader bio: Dr. Stephen A. Jurovics holds BS and MS degrees from Columbia University and a PhD in Engineering from the University of Southern California. He has had about 20 technical papers published over the years and given numerous presentations at professional conferences. Aspects of climate change mitigation have been the focus of his engineering work for more than two decades.

The existential threat posed by climate change and a belief that the faith community could motivate people to push for mitigating actions led him, out of spiritual curiosity, to research the environmental teachings in the Bible, particularly exploring whether they contained instructions relevant to contemporary issues such as greenhouse gas emissions, preserving biological diversity, recycling, and sustainability. The abundance of applicable teachings and a desire to demonstrate that the faith community has a solid biblical basis for addressing the climate change crisis motivated him to write Hospitable Planet: Faith, Action, and Climate Change (Morehouse Publishing, an imprint of Church Publishing, 2016). The United Methodist Women selected Hospitable Planet for its 2018 reading program and “Education for Ministry,” a program of the Episcopal Church, selected Hospitable Planet as their common reading text in 2021 for their roughly 6,500 participants.

Online Format: This three-session workshop will use Zoom technology to meet online in order to allow for presentations by the leader as well as interaction among participants. Participants will need an electronic device equipped with a reliable Internet connection, built-in or external microphone, and a built-in or external webcam.

Cost:

$50 per individual, if register by September 10, 2021. (Note: Beginning, September 11, individual price increases by $10. Register early and save!).

CEUs: .4 CEUs (Continuing Education Units) for this event. Note: CEU certificates can be generated upon request at the time of the event.

Registration: Online registration is open. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER. Registered participants will receive a Zoom meeting link the week prior to the event’s first meeting.

Waiting List: Space is limited. Register early to reserve your spot. Once event reaches capacity, a waiting list will be started.